Cities

Few towns in the American West wear their past as openly as Virginia City, Nevada. You can feel it in the steep streets, the weathered wood, the pale mine dumps on the hillsides, and the uneasy sense that a fortune might still be hiding under your boots. This historic town is located in the hills approximately 30 minutes outside of Reno. Its story begins with the Comstock Lode, the famous silver strike that also carried a great deal of gold, and it rippled far beyond one mountain camp. For geologists, rock hounds, and road trippers, Virginia City isn't only old-time scenery. It's a place where mining history still sits in plain sight, stubborn as bedrock. To understand why the town still tugs at people, you have to start with the ore.